Initial characterization of a prototype target–moderator–reflector assembly for an electron-driven compact accelerator-driven neutron source at CERN's CLEAR facility

This article presents the design, installation and first experimental testing of a novel prototype target–moderator–reflector assembly for a compact accelerator-driven neutron source driven by a 35 MeV electron beam.

EQSANS-CLI: a natural-language agent-ready command-line tool for small-angle neutron scattering data reduction at EQ-SANS

EQSANS-CLI is a command-line tool for small-angle neutron scattering data reduction. It exposes the full reduction pipeline through two input surfaces, an interactive terminal that accepts both slash commands and natural language, and a headless JSON mode designed for external AI agents, both built on a shared command-handler layer.

Angle-dependent X-ray absorption correction in small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering: accounting for constrained scattering volume, beam profiles and capillary wall attenuation

We present an improved numerical angle-dependent absorption correction procedure for line-collimated small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements in thin-walled quartz capillaries. The procedure accounts for the constrained illuminated volume, measured primary beam profiles and capillary-wall absorption, enabling physically consistent data reduction and reliable absolute scaling when conventional experimental scalar transmission corrections become unreliable.

Influence of solidification history and particle size on defect evolution in Al2024 alloy additive manufacturing powder

Findings are presented on the impact of particle size and solidification history on defect formation in Al2024 alloy additive manufacturing powder. The results of this investigation suggest a trend of decreasing dislocation density in as-atomized samples as the particle size increases, with larger particles cooling more slowly.

Anisotropic extension of the Parratt formalism

We derive a generalized Parratt method applicable to anisotropic systems, which is devoid of the numerical instabilities arising in the method of characteristic matrices. We derive formulae for both reflectivity and transmissivity.

Depth-resolved X-ray residual stress analysis on samples with cylindrically shaped surface topography

Modifications of the fundamental equation of X-ray stress analysis are proposed that allow correction of the hoop and longitudinal stresses obtained from sin²ψ measurements on samples featuring an inhomogeneous surface topography. The formalism is verified by angle- and energy-dispersive measurements performed on a ferritic steel sample with cylindrically shaped regions with different central angles.

Probing local atomic structure in thin films by grazing-incidence total X-ray scattering with a convergent X-ray beam

We performed grazing-incidence total X-ray scattering on an indium tin oxide thin film using a convergent incident beam. This approach enables the acquisition of total scattering profiles up to Q = 21 Å⁻¹, demonstrating the feasibility of laboratory instruments for thin film pair distribution function analysis.

Absorption correction for plate samples in transmission X-ray powder diffraction: improved reliability of atomic displacement parameters

An analytical absorption correction for powder X-ray diffraction of flat plate samples in transmission geometry is presented. Independent determination of the optical thickness enables reliable refinement of atomic displacement parameters.

Isopoints in small-angle scattering. I. Form factors of inhomogeneous quasi-spherical particles under contrast variation

A general solution of the problem of observing isoscattering points in the form factors of quasi-spherical particles under contrast variation in a small-angle scattering experiment is presented. It uses the approach of basic functions extended to the practical area by considering experimental isopoints as caustic-type nodes.

DISCO: a general software tool for dislocation contrast factor calculations in diffraction analysis

DISCO is a program capable of calculating the X-ray contrast factor for single- and polycrystalline materials in real time.

The BioSAXS laboratory of the ITACA.SB Research Infrastructure

We present a versatile state-of-the-art X-ray scattering laboratory within the ITACA.SB Research Infrastructure, enabling multi-scale structural characterization of complex biological specimens and advanced materials through integrated small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) techniques. The platform supports simultaneous SAXS/WAXS acquisition, scanning microscopy, ultra-SAXS and size-exclusion chromatography SAXS measurements.

Online_DPI: a web server to calculate the diffraction precision index for a protein structure. Addendum

From August 2026, the online computing server Online_DPI [Kumar et al. (2015). J. Appl. Cryst. 48, 939–942] will be hosted by the International Union of Crystallography at https://dpi.iucr.org/.

Small-angle polarized neutron scattering study of strontium hexaferrite nanoplatelet ferrofluid. Corrigendum

The name of one of the authors of the article by Grigoryeva et al. [J. Appl. Cryst. (2026), 59, 1129–1138] is corrected.